


And The Sky Turns To Blue

by cherrypsd



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Dragons, Fluff, Language, M/M, Magic, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-22 13:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17060249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrypsd/pseuds/cherrypsd
Summary: Running an illegal dragon school with the man he's definitely not in love with is turning out to be slightly more difficult than Stein had previously anticipated. While actively trying to avoid the new High Witch whose main objective is to eliminate dragons from the hands of all humans, Stein and Spirit spend their free time teaching students how to bond with their dragons, until rumors of the High Witch growing her army again begin to circulate. With new variables appearing at every turn, Stein soon finds himself faced with budding relationships, familial tensions, and possible treason, and none of his decisions are looking good.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> first time resbang-ing! thank you to the moon and back to my beta zxanthe for helping me to pull this whole thing together. also go check out my artists' beautiful work, by [the-ace-place](https://the-ace-place.tumblr.com/post/181260369811/resbang-2018-and-the-sky-turns-to-blue-here-are) and [thenoctivagant](https://thenoctivagant.tumblr.com/post/181259799363/resbang-2018-and-the-sky-turns-to-blue)! (spoiler art at the end of thenoctivagant's post be Careful)
> 
> this was actually so much fun. thank you so much to the resbang mods for hosting this and giving me the opportunity to be overly self-indulgent and write 20k of stein/spirit and dragons

It almost feels like the sun is laughing at Stein. It shouldn’t have any reason to, what with the cool breeze blowing over him, blocking out the heat, but it’s still laughing nonetheless. Maybe at the turtleneck that he refused to change out of, or maybe at the glasses that keep sliding down his face as he weaves between the towering pines.

Below him, the ground races past, and around him, his dragon’s wings beat in time with his heart.

Cyphus’ pale white scales shine in the sun, tiny iridescent rainbows dancing in the reflections. He shakes his head and snorts, and a ring of smoke bursts in Stein’s face. He reaches forwards to gently scratch the scales behind Cyphus’ ear, and he’s rewarded with a rumbling purr that resonates in his bones.

Stein is  _ sure _ he’d told the group of students flying along behind him that today’s exercise was supposed to be a silent one...but the whispers that have been steadily growing finally peak as Blackstar shouts, “ _ My _ dragon  _ is _ the superior one! You can’t even do a loop-the-loop!” followed by muffled laughter from Maka and Kid.

“That’s enough, all of you!” Stein calls, pulling Cyphus around to face them in the air. “What part of  _ ‘silent’ _ do you not understand?”

Kid at least has the decency to look slightly ashamed as he and Maka chorus, “Sorry, Professor,” but Maka’s subtly smug expression doesn’t go away.

“Yeah, that’s right! It’s supposed to be  _ quiet, _ you guys!”

“You too, Blackstar,” Stein says, and he turns Cyphus around to face forwards again. “I think it’s time to take a break, don’t you?”

Stein leads them to a meadow cutting through the swath of pines, gliding silently down with his students right behind him. When Cyphus’ feet touch the tall grass, a multitude of rainbow-scaled creatures flutter up from the stalks, gossamer wings reflecting the sunlight in shards.

“Nympharums,” Tsubaki breathes in wonder.

“We see those all the time back at the school,” Blackstar grumbles, still sullen from Maka and Kid’s teasing. “It’s not a big deal.”

No one pays him any mind as the Nympharums slowly settle back into the grass, disgruntled tinkling noises coming from them over the sudden arrival of the other dragons. Cyphus follows the tiny dragons after Stein slips off his back, padding over to a shady spot in the meadow. He drops down and curls his tail around his feet with a sigh.

Stein nods to his students and they let their dragons go too. Some slink over to join Cyphus, while others crouch in the grass and watch the Nympharums with a keen eye.

“When we go back up, do you think you’ll be able to lock down the ‘quiet’ part this time?” Stein asks, and his students nod. Despite their short-lived attention spans, Stein knows they do want to do well. They’re only kids, after all.

“I know you will,” Stein says resignedly, and he lifts up a hand to shoo them off. “Go on, take your break.”

They scatter willingly, and Stein takes the opportunity to join Cyphus in the shade, adjusting himself against his dragon’s flank. Cyphus affectionately bats his head with the tip of his tail, and Stein smiles. The forest air looks hazy with the sun straining to shine through the branches, and with the smell of blackberries and the warmth of the afternoon surrounding him, Stein closes his eyes and lets the world pass him by for just a little while.

 

“Being quiet is overrated,” Blackstar grumbles once they’re in the air again.

“If you can’t learn how to be quiet, you’ll won’t be going on a single reconnaissance mission,” Stein calls. Blackstar shuts up fairly quickly after that.

Stein has no intention of ever sending them on any sort of dangerous mission, but it’s a good incentive anyways. And just in case things took a turn for the worse...it’s better to be prepared. He couldn’t ever see himself sending his students into battle unless it was absolutely necessary, however.

Stein wants his students to learn how to communicate and move with their dragons without using words, as per his instructions for today’s lesson. Bonding with a dragon is about more than riding on their backs and telling them where to go. Flying with a dragon is like a dance, each partner putting in an equal amount of direction and getting responses in turn. It’s important to be able to interact with them on a deeper level than simply human words.

Despite previous complaints, his students start to catch on to the lesson Stein is trying to drive home for them. They dive silently through the trees, moving fluidly to keep together, and Stein’s heart swells with pride. They  _ are _ good students, and Stein does appreciate the fact that they challenge him frequently about what exactly he’s teaching them. It shows they’re engaged in the lesson and excited to actually learn, rather than just following along blindly. On top of that, he doesn’t have the will to lecture them seriously. He’s glad they place their trust in him less like a strictly professional teacher and more like a guardian figure.

 

By the time they arrive back at the school, the sun is low in the sky and the trees are bathed in warm evening light. They land in the clearing in front of the school doors, and Stein steps out of the way after dismounting to let his students pass inside first.

Someone is waiting by the door when Stein finally gets to the entrance, leaning casually against one of the hastily constructed pillars outside the doorway.

“How’d practice go today?” Spirit asks, pushing himself off the wall to follow Stein into the building.

“It went fine,” Stein says. “They got a little sidetracked some ways into it, but I think they started to get the hang of it by the end.”

Spirit nods and reaches over to help Stein remove Cyphus’ tack, slinging the saddle over the stall door while Stein pulls the harness over Cyphus’ horns and off his head. Cyphus shakes his head and shambles into his stall. He turns in a circle and then sticks his head over the door, and Stein can see tension lining his muscles from unreleased energy. Today’s flight had been a casual run, not enough for Cyphus to properly stretch his wings. Stein reaches up to scratch his forehead, giving him an apologetic look. Cyphus merely blinks at him, unamused.

Spirit gives a small, amused huff, and Stein looks over to see him watching his students finish tucking their own dragons into their stalls.

“What is it?” Stein asks.

“It was just so long ago that we came here, even though it feels like just yesterday,” Spirit says, eyes on Maka. “She and Dae have both gotten so much bigger.”

Stein looks over now, too, just as Maka and the other students disappear down the hall, chatting animatedly as they head to their rooms for the night. Kid and Blackstar are shooting glares at each other behind the others’ backs.

“Have you thought any more about teaching them how to fight?” Spirit asks, taking Stein aback.

“Teaching them--? No, no, no,” Stein says, shaking his head. “The High Witch has been silent for so long. There hasn’t been a crackdown on any dragon schools for ages. I don’t think we’re going to see another war in our lifetime or theirs, so there’s no point.”

“You never know,” Spirit says. “I was out picking up some new tack for Saturn and I heard some people gossiping out in the town. Whispers about the High Witch gathering recruits for an army again.”

“That’s old news,” Stein says dismissively. “People always bring that up every now and then and nothing ever comes of it. It’ll pass in a few days or so; a week, tops.”

Spirit looks likes he’s about to say something else, but Stein stops him with a look.

“No fighting exercises and that’s final.” His tone softens a little bit. “They’re still kids, Spirit. Even if a war is coming, they don’t deserve to be dragged into it.”

Spirit nods resignedly.

“You’re right. I guess I’m just being paranoid.”

“You wanna go for a night ride?” Spirit asks after a pause, serious tone turned into something more playful, the corners of his mouth pulled up in a faint smirk. “We haven’t done one of those for a while.”

“I just put all my tack awa... _ oh. _ One of  _ those _ rides?” Stein says at a look from Spirit.

“What else?”

A smile slowly grows on Stein’s face.

“Let’s do it.”

Stein does one quick round about his students’ room to make sure that they’re all settled in, and then he circles back to meet Spirit in the stables again. Spirit is already leading Saturn out of his stable, so Stein calls out to Cyphus, and the dragon lifts his head from resting on the stable door to level his eyes with Stein’s.

“You good for a night ride?” Stein says, stepping in to unlock the door. Cyphus rumbles out an affirmative purr, and Stein pats the side of his neck, a happy tremor running down his dragon.

“Alright, let’s go.”

 

The air is cool running through Stein’s hair as he and Cyphus soar above the trees. Cyphus has no tack on, leaving Stein to wrap his hands around the spines that litter Cyphus’ shoulders and press his legs tightly into the dragon’s sides. He can feel every shift in Cyphus’ movements, every breath and wingbeat. Spirit is flying just behind him, Saturn sans tack as well.

The sun has just passed below the horizon, the sky somewhere between blue and dusty pink, and the light is fading quickly. The forest races by in a blur beneath them, the colors smudging together like wet ink.

Stein hasn’t flown this fast in a while and it’s exhilarating. He loves teaching, of course, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to fly with someone he doesn’t have to worry about accidentally leaving behind.

“Are we almost there yet?” Spirit calls out. “This feels way farther away than last time!”

“That’s what you say every time!” Stein shouts back, his heart light. Not for the first time, Stein wishes it could always be like this, out from under the rule of the High Witch with the ability to live freely. But when he’s alone like this with Spirit, everything else always seems to fall away, and he can pretend at least for a little while that things are okay.

The trees begin thinning out, and a shining expanse of water suddenly opens up beneath him. Spirit’s whoop of joy is lost somewhere behind them in the wind as Stein laughs and urges Cyphus up higher, climbing the sunset. 

“We don’t have all night, old man!” Spirit calls from somewhere above him, a teasing cadence to his voice. Stein glances up to see Spirit already high up in the air. If there were any trees around, he most likely could have stepped off Saturn’s back and onto the top branches of one.

In fact, that’s what it looks like Spirit is trying to do just now--he pushes himself up off Saturn’s neck and now is unsteadily standing up on his dragon’s back, trying to get a grip on the slippery scales. He’s wobbling, arms outstretched as he sways back and forth. Stein is growing worried; has it been too long since they had done this?

He and Cyphus finally reach Spirit’s level, and is about to call out to him when Spirit looks up and catches Stein’s eye, winks, and relaxes into a casual stance, one leg bent and his arms crossed over his chest.

“I had you there, didn’t I?” he asks.

“Shut up,” Stein says, rolling his eyes, trying to conceal the wave of relief that washes over him as he focuses on standing up on Cyphus’ back. Stein’s heart dips to his stomach a couple times before he’s standing up fully, center of gravity stable.

“Ready?” he asks.

“More ready than you!” Spirit calls back, and there’s a moment of hushed silence that falls over them before they step out into the open air at the same time and plummet towards the water.

The wind is loud in Stein’s ears, the landscape a colorful rush around him, and the silvery water is falling faster and faster towards him until he opens his arms at the last second and the wingsuit strapped to his torso unfurls, catching on the evening air and carrying him across the face of the lake.

Stein can’t distinguish his laughter from Spirit’s, and they dance above the water until the drift of wind slowly dies off, their dragons swooping down instead and plucking them carefully from the air to deposit them on the shore. Stein scrambles up before his feet have barely touched the ground, and Spirit eagerly follows.

 

Several more dives later, Stein and Spirit find themselves resting on the sand at the edge of the lake, their dragons curled up behind them. The moon is out now, and the stars shimmer on the surface of the water. The still air is warm, though, coveting the heat left over from the sun’s daily round.

“Hey,” Spirit says, eyes twinkling, and Stein already knows he’s not going to like whatever is going to come next. “How about a swim?”

Stein groans and flops his head down onto the sand, lifting an arm up to rest over his eyes.

“Not happening, Spirit,” he says. “It’s too dark and too late. We need get back to the school soon.”

“Never one to have much fun, are you, old man?”

“You’re older than me, don’t even try to pull that on me.”

Spirit scoffs and falls silent, but Stein knows there’s no real bite behind his words.

They really should get back to the school, but Stein is perfectly content to lay here a while longer. The sand is gritty yet forgiving underneath him, and the presence of Spirit and their dragons next to him is calming and warm. He wants to stay out just a little longer where his responsibilities can’t quite reach him.

Stein isn’t quite sure how much time has passed when he hears a tiny splash in the water at his feet. He realizes too late that the sound didn’t come from a passing lake creature, and he opens his eyes just in time for Spirit to toss a handful of water directly at his face.

“ _ Spirit! _ ”

Stein coughs and wipes the water out of his eyes, setting his glasses down next to him as Spirit laughs and sloshes further into the lake. Without even giving it a second thought, Stein jumps up and wades into the water after him.

“You absolute  _ bastard _ \--”

“Hey, I didn’t say you had to get into the water! That’s all you!”

Spirit is a blurry shape in front of Stein without his glasses on, but he can see well enough to get to Spirit and strangle him.

“I wouldn’t be here if you didn’t splash water on me in the first place! I’m gonna--”

“Why didn’t you take even your shirt off, you idiot?” Spirit asks, ignoring Stein’s implied threats completely, and it’s just now that Stein realizes that Spirit definitely doesn’t have  _ his _ shirt on.  _ Something _ in his brain must short-circuit, although he’s unsure exactly as to  _ why _ , because then Spirit is a lot closer to Stein than he thought and suddenly he’s losing his balance, falling backwards into the water with a resounding splash.

Spirit’s hysterical laughter reaches Stein’s ears as the water calms, gently lapping at his chin, and then Stein is joining in, the currents soaking into the threads of his clothing no longer seeming consequential. Spirit wades closer to him, still smiling brightly, and offers him a hand. They carefully splash back to the beach together, worn out enough to finally ride home.

 

The flight back to the school is silent but not uncomfortable. Stein and Spirit take their time, their dragons flying leisurely between the trees as their clothes slowly dry in the wind. Stein is more exhausted than he had thought; he’s looking forward to climbing into bed when they get back. He doesn’t have any morning lessons tomorrow, so he has the luxury of sleeping in.

However, falling directly into bed is looking like it’s going to be more difficult than he had thought as the school comes into view. Stein wasn’t sure at first, but as they’ve been getting closer and closer, his suspicions are correct. There’s someone standing outside the building, hunched over near one of the pillars.

They’re tall, with a bright shock of pink hair, and they’re hugging their arms close to them. Still shrouded in the cover of the pines, Stein glances to Spirit to make sure he’s seen the stranger too. Spirit nods once, and they cautiously descend into the field on the opposite side of where the stranger is standing.

They look up, startled, and then their expression morphs into something like relief mixed with worry. Stein can see a few bloody scratches on their face, accompanied with mud splattered across their skin and brambles attached to their sleeves.

“Hey,” Stein calls, jumping off Cyphus but staying on his side of the field. He’s lived through enough to learn to be cautious, although the person across from him looks like they could barely harm a fly. “Are you okay?”

“Hello,” they say after searching Stein’s face, so quietly Stein can barely hear them. “I--uh...do you have space for another student?”

That immediately sets off warning bells clanging in Stein’s head. His school  _ is _ technically illegal, as ruled by the High Witch, so to keep himself and his students safe, he was forced to implement a rigorous enrollment process to keep anyone with possible ties to the High Witch away from his school. Stein isn’t sure where this stranger had come from, or what their motives are, but they clearly have no knowledge about the stakes in place for a school such as this.

Spirit, on the other hand, apparently has no qualms about the situation. He steps out from behind Stein and begins walking towards the stranger before Stein can stop him.

“Of course we have room, do you need a place to stay? You look like you could use a good night’s sleep and some food. Let’s get you settled in right away,” he says sympathetically, and Stein doesn’t have to see his face to know the pitiful expression he’s wearing right now.

“Spirit, can we talk a second?” Stein calls out, and something in his tone makes Spirit pause midstep, then turn back around to face Stein with a half-guilty, half-defiant look. Stein jerks his chin in his direction and Spirit reluctantly comes to join him at his side.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Stein whispers. “You can’t just go inviting everyone who shows up on our doorstep into my school.”

“Oh, so it’s  _ your _ school now? Just because I’m not an official teacher makes it all yours, right?”

“It _ is _ my school, Spirit! Which makes it my responsibility to keep the people in it safe. You know how enrollment works.”

“Stein, they’re clearly on the run from something. What if they’re in danger? We can help them by giving them a place to stay!”

“And what happens if it turns out they’re working with the High Witch? Yeah, they look like they’d faint if you asked them to hold a sword, but we don’t know what they could be hiding, what their true potential might be. You don’t know what kind of people she has working for her.”

“But--”

“It’s not just me and you in that school, Spirit,” Stein cuts him off. “Maka’s there too. What if she--or any of the others--gets hurt because of someone we let into the school on a whim?”

That gives Spirit pause. He hesitates a moment, and then a determined expression appears on his face, and before Stein can stop him, Spirit is whirling around and making his way back to the stranger.

“ _ Spirit! _ Fucking hell--”

“...can come stay here,” is what Stein hears when he catches up to Spirit. “We have plenty of extra rooms.”

Spirit is speaking in a soft tone to the stranger, a kind look on his face, but when Stein reaches them, Spirit looks over and levels a glare so intense at Stein that he almost stumbles back a few steps.

_ Fine, _ Stein thinks.  _ Have it your way. _

“What’s your name?” Stein asks, trying to put on a pleasant tone like he wasn’t just arguing in favor of having them removed from the premises less than a minute ago.

The stranger glances at Spirit, and when Spirit gives an almost imperceptible nod, Stein feels a tiny twinge of guilt. They really do look like they could use a safe place to stay. Maybe he was too quick to judge them after all, but... _ no. _ Stein knows the consequences. He can’t make exceptions...except Spirit looks like he’s ready to do something drastic if Stein doesn’t agree. Maybe just for tonight.

“I’m Crona,” they say. “I can...you have room for me here?”

Stein opens his mouth to respond, but Spirit beats him to it with, “Yes, and room for your dragon. If you have one, that is.”

Stein frowns at Spirit, but he isn’t even looking. Crona nods, and then lifts a hand up to their mouth and whistles.

After a few seconds, a dragon looking almost identical to Stein’s comes soaring over the trees and into the meadow in front of them. Cyphus and Saturn, having remained quiet throughout the exchange so far, snort in surprise at the other dragon’s arrival. Cyphus, seeming to realize they’re the same kind, looks almost affronted. He looks over to Stein questioningly, and then grudgingly settles back down after Stein gives him a look. He may not like letting Crona stay, but there’s no reason to be rude to their dragon.

“Alright, let’s get you inside,” Spirit says, and Stein can’t say anything as Spirit leads Crona into the school with their dragons trailing behind them.

 

Crona introduces their dragon as Mia, and after getting Mia settled into an empty stall, Spirit and Stein bring Crona further into the school. Cyphus and Saturn, both sensing something different in the atmosphere, climb into their respective stables themselves without a fuss.

“Most of our students come here just for their lessons and then go home, but we have a few who live here with us,” Spirit says. “Do you mind rooming near them?”

Crona shakes their head, and so Spirit leads them to a guest room near the end of the hallway where the long-term students stay.

“Here you go,” Spirit says, swinging the door open so they can peer inside. There’s a bed in the corner, and a nightstand next to it. The only other thing decorating the room is a mirror on the opposite wall. 

“It’s small, but it’ll grow on you,” Stein says from over Spirit’s shoulder, wanting to at least try to contribute something tonight. “Is there anything else you need?”

Crona shakes their head and steps into the room. They turn around to face both Stein and Spirit, eyes on the floor.

“Thank you,” they say quietly. “Thank you for letting me stay here.”

“Of course,” Spirit says. “Just let us know if you need anything.” Crona nods, and Spirit shuts the door softly for them.

Stein rounds on Spirit the second they leave the hallway.

“You’d better have a  _ fantastic  _ reason for disobeying my orders and putting my entire school in danger.”

“I--your  _ orders _ ? I thought we worked together, not in a hierarchy.” Spirit continues before Stein can get a word in. “I don’t expect you to understand, anyway. You’re not a father. You can’t expect me to be as robotic as you when it comes to dealing with kids like that.”

“Okay, not important,” Stein says, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose under his glasses. Spirit’s words sting, but he tries not to let it show. Honestly, he’s at a loss of what to do by this point. “One night won’t be an issue, right? It doesn’t seem like they can do much in the state they’re in now, anyways.”

“One night?” Spirit asks incredulously. “Stein, we didn’t invite them in for one night--”

“You.  _ You _ didn’t invite them in for one night.”

Spirit heaves a sigh.

“Fine.  _ I _ didn’t invite them in for tonight only to kick them out in the morning. That’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair is you possibly endangering our  _ lives _ ! I don’t need to remind you how devastating the war with the High Witch was, Spirit, we lived through that together!”

That quiets Spirit down. Neither of them like to talk about the war if they can help it, but it plagues them more often than they like to admit.

Stein and Spirit met years ago during the war. They, along with the thousands of other humans who lived here, had dragons they had bonded with. The previous High Witch was a fair and just ruler. The land prospered, and everyone was safe, until a no-name witch decided the High Witch was too soft of a ruler and took over the throne, declaring it a crime for any human to bond with a dragon. 

The war waged for six years, fought between the self-appointed High Witch and her army against the humans, witches, and dragons who opposed her rule. The death toll was immeasurably high on all sides, until the High Witch perfected her dark magic to enslave numbers of dragons to do her bidding. With that advantage, she was able to turn the war in her favor, resulting in all those who fought against her to flee lest they be killed by her hand. 

In the years that followed, the land slowly recovered, and illegal dragon schools began appearing to keep the tradition of bonding with dragons alive in spite of the High Witch’s ruling. In the beginning, it was not uncommon for these schools to be discovered and then promptly decimated, but as time went on, they learned how to hide better. Stein has had a few scares over the years, but nothing as serious as this. He has no idea how dangerous Crona really is, but he doesn’t want to take a chance and risk his school and the lives of everybody in it.

“What’s done is done,” Spirit says quietly. “Why don’t we spend some time tomorrow looking into them? Try to figure out any ties they might have to people we don’t like? We can keep an eye on them until we have more information.”

Stein nods, defeated.

“Why don’t you go get some sleep?” Stein says. “I’ll go put up some preliminary precautions tonight and we can deal with the rest in the morning.”

“Sure.” Spirit nods, yawning. He takes a step down the hallway, and then stops to turn back to Stein.

“Thank you for tonight,” he says, a small yet genuine smile gracing his lips. “I had fun.”

Stein can’t help himself from smiling back.

“Me too.”

Something flashes in Spirit’s eyes that Stein can’t quite read, but it’s gone the next moment. He gives Stein a sleepy salute, and then walks down the hall.

 

Several minutes later, Stein finds himself back outside the castle. In the tall grass surrounding the school, swarms of Nympharums are sleeping on the stalks, their wings glowing in the faint light of the moon. Stein sighs, loath to wake them, but he runs his hand through the grass in between the dragons anyways.

Dazed chittering makes its way to his ears as they slowly wake up, and the tone soon turns to anger once they realize what has happened. They flutter up from the grass, and Stein is faced with a multitude of glittering faces snorting tiny, unintelligible curses at him.

“Hey, whoa, I’m sorry!” Stein says, lifting his hands up in surrender before they can do anything else besides hover angrily in the air. “Listen, it’s important, otherwise I promise I wouldn’t have bothered you.”

All the Nympharums tilt their heads curiously to the side at once, like a giant hive mind.

“I, uh...well, some strange stuff has happened recently. I just need you to let me know if anything                                             _ else _ strange happens.”

A confused, colorful chirp.

“Like...the High Witch.”

The Nympharums don’t even need to make a sound this time. Stein can feel the cold horror that washes over them. They lose any previous playfulness they had retained, seeming to stand in rigid attention in the air.

“I don’t know if it’s actually her or not. I don’t know what’s going on. Most likely, it’s not her, but just in case, I need you to be on guard. For yourselves and me.”

The Nympharums sway in affirmation.

“Can you let me know if you get any wind of her, or any unusual happenings within the school?”

Again, they sway in the air.

“Thank you. Now, go back to sleep. There’s no immediate danger, and know that myself and the other dragons here are always here to protect you if you need it.”

They Nympharums hesitate for a split second, and then a wave of dragonly affection rushes over Stein from them as they slowly settle back down into the grass. Stein smiles and turns to walk back inside, really,  _ really _ looking forward to his bed.

 

Stein can’t find  _ anything _ on Crona. He looks through the files of his other students, trying to catch even a glimpse of their name or someone who might know them, but there’s nothing. Absolutely nothing.

He sets his glasses down on his desk and rubs his eyes, sighing. Why couldn’t anything ever be easy? He really didn’t want to fight Spirit again on this (their argument last night had shaken him more than he’d like to admit--they  _ never _ fought like this), but if he couldn’t find anything proving that Crona  _ wasn’t _ a threat, they would just have to go.

At least Crona hasn’t met the other students yet. Only he and Spirit know about them, which makes it that much easier to finalize a decision.

A loud crash sounds down the hall outside Stein’s room, and he jumps.

Stein shoves his glasses back on his face and steps out into the hallway. His eyes are immediately drawn to a tussling tangle of his students on the floor, and...Crona squashed at the bottom. Stein sighs internally.  _ Great. _

“Alright, what’s going on here?” he says.

“Blackstar scared Crona, Professor!” Maka says, wrestling herself out of said boy’s grasp at the sound of Stein’s voice. “We were just walking--”

“That’s no reason for you to punch me in the face!”

“--to the kitchen for breakfast and Blackstar came out of nowhere--”

“I wanted some--”

“--and then he  _ jumped _ at--”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Stein says. “Maka, Blackstar, get off the floor. Crona--” Stein extends his hand out to them, and they take it gingerly, pulling themself up off the ground.

“How did you run into each other, anyways?” Stein asks after Crona straightens up and brushes themself off.

“I was getting up to get water after I woke up and I came across Crona in the hallway,” Maka says. “We talked for a little while until Tsubaki, Liz, and Kid joined us and we decided to go get breakfast. Then Blackstar--”

“Okay, I get it,” Stein says, trying to stifle the argument before it gets too much further. “For those of you that don’t know, this is Crona. They’ll be staying here with us for...an undetermined amount of time. Now go get breakfast, all of you, and be civil. I don’t want to have to sweep broken plate shards into the trash again.”

They obediently file down the hallway, Maka very un-subtly stepping between Blackstar and Crona as they go.

“Well, there goes your plan to kick them out today, huh?”

Stein turns around at the voice to see Spirit leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway.

“Spirit--” Stein begins, eyes narrowed, but Spirit cuts him off with a laugh. It sounds a bit strained to Stein.

“I’m just joking,” he says. “Seriously, though, what are you going to do?”

Stein sighs and shakes his head.

“I don’t know. I’ve been looking for connections since six this morning and I haven’t found anything. The students seem to like them, but…”

“..that’ll just make it harder if you decide they need to go.”

Stein doesn’t bother responding, only stares in the direction they all went for breakfast in defeat.

“Do you want some help?” Spirit asks.

Stein sighs again, and then nods.

“Yeah. Two eyes would be better than one.”

The rest of the morning passes by in a messy blur, spent poring over numerous files, Spirit too close yet too far from Stein at the same time and something indistinguishable in the air between them.

 

As it turns out, two eyes are _ not _ better than one. Three days go by and they still haven't found a single thing. Stein is distracted during his riding lessons, unable to focus through the conflict and questions in his head.

“Spirit, I really think we’ve reached the end of the line here,” Stein says after his last lesson on the third day. “I’ve already allowed too much opportunity for something to go wrong. We really need to get Crona out of here.”

His heart aches a little, saying it out loud, although he’s not exactly sure why. Crona hasn’t come to any of his lessons, instead staying behind in the castle where Spirit can keep an eye on them if need be. The only times he’s really seen them is when they’re spending time with his other long-term students. They look almost...happy, then, like this is the first time they’ve experienced friendship.

“There is one more thing we can do,” Spirit says, pulling Stein out of his thoughts. “I didn’t want to mention it earlier if we had other options, but...we could go into town. Look for a witch.”

“A  _ what _ ?”

“You heard me.”

“And what on earth would we do with a witch?”

“There are some witches out there who do readings, like mind, or whatever, right? We can ask one to read Crona for us. Maybe it’s not the most ethical thing, but, hey, you were the one who said your school needed to be protected, right?”

Stein doesn’t miss the subtle jab, but he lets it slide. He has more than enough things to keep him occupied right now; fighting with Spirit doesn’t need to be another one.

“Okay. Let’s see what we can find.”

 

Stein is once again thankful that he’s only the teacher of a school, not head of the town. The amount of enrollment requests he gets pales in comparison to how many residency requests roll through the town. It’s where Stein gets the supplies he needs for his school, and where the rest of his day students live, so protecting the dragon-friendly town is just as important as protecting his school.

The streets are lively today, the sun bringing out streams of cheerful passerby, occasionally stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to chat with each other or to merely enjoy the clouds. He and Spirit weave their way around them, glancing over the booths lined up on the streets in hopes of a witch advertising their services. There’s always one or another around somewhere.

“Oh! Maybe that’s something?” Spirit says, and Stein looks in the direction Spirit gestures, eyes falling upon a tiny booth on the other side of the street. 

It’s small, but decorated lavishly with what looks like handmade paper moons and stars pinned all over it. Stein and Spirit share a look and Stein shrugs, and they make their way carefully over over the booth. 

There’s a young boy sitting behind it, looking around the same age as the students Stein has back at his school.

He’s putting on a brave face, but Stein can tell he’s nervous sitting out here along with everyone else. The witch is distracted, staring off somewhere to the side of his booth. Spirit and Stein’s footsteps alert him to possible customers and he starts, and then straightens his robes and clears his throat.

“Hello,” he says with a serious expression as Stein and Spirit come to a stop in front of the makeshift counter. “What may I help you with today?”

Stein and Spirit exchange another hesitant look, but Spirit speaks up nonetheless.

“Hi,” he begins. “We were wondering what kind of services you offered? We’re looking for someone who can do readings, like maybe mind, or aura?”

“Yes, I can help you with that,” the witch says, but it sounds more like a question than a statement. “What is it exactly that you needed?”

Stein is starting to feel more and more doubtful with every word that this kid speaks. He’s definitely overcompensating for something with his serious and almost stiff language. Stein doesn’t know if it’s lack of skills or something else, but...this was the only person they’d seen so far who possessed  _ any  _ sort of magic capabilities, no matter how strong or otherwise they were. It didn’t look they had a whole lot of a choice.

“We have a possible situation back at my school,” Stein says. “I--we--may have an infiltrator in my school. Are you able to read them to find out what their purpose their is? We can pay you up front.”

The boy’s eyes narrow after a moment, and Stein feels a strange, slightly electric tingling running throughout his body. It disappears after another moment, however, and then the boy is smiling brightly.

“Yeah, of course I can!” he says cheerfully, and then the smile drops off of his face and he clears his throat. “I mean, yes, I am...able do that for you.”

Stein slides a few coins onto the counter with a nod of his head, left with the feeling that the witch had just read his aura. It certainly doesn’t seem like he’s trying to cover up any faults in his abilities. Stein’s had plenty of encounters with witches before--granted, they all tended to be pretty hostile--but that felt like a thorough aura reading to him.

The boy swipes the coins off the counter and deposits them into the bag at his feet. Stein can see over the counter just enough to catch a glimpse of it, and there’s something that looks like a sleeping roll and an extra shirt sticking out from the top of the bag. The boy cinches the bag shut before Stein can get a proper look, but those didn’t seem like normal things someone might bring to a town market for half a day.

The boy stands up, waves his hands in a quick spiral in front of him, and the booth collapses in a swirl of stormcloud-blue and tiny flashes of white into a tiny bundle of sticks on the ground. He bends down and picks it up, tucking it into a pocket in his bag as he straightens back up.

“My name is Kilik,” he says. “Let’s get to this school of yours.”

 

The walk back to the school is long, although Kilik doesn’t complain. The trip is silent, and it isn’t until they break through the last wall of trees and step into the clearing in front of the school that Kilik finally breaks the quiet with, “Whoa, a dragon school? That’s so cool!”

When Stein turns around to look at him, Kilik stutters, then drops his eyes to the ground. 

“I mean...uh…”

“Spirit, would you head inside for a minute?” Stein says quietly aside to him. “Clear out the other students so Kilik has some space to work.”

Spirit nods and strides away towards the doors of the school. Stein takes a moment to lean against the trunk of a tree behind him before speaking up.

“Hey,” he says softly, but Kilik doesn’t move. “Kilik, look at me.”

That finally drags Kilik’s eyes up off the ground and they settle on Stein’s face, worry showing through the cracks of his serious facade.

“You don’t have to pretend be someone you’re not here,” Stein says, and Kilik’s brow creases; in confusion or concern, Stein can’t tell. Maybe both. “I know what you’re capable of, trust me. I’ve never seen anyone your age do the kind of magic you did back at the market. You don’t have to worry about us doubting your abilities in the slightest.”

Kilik just stares at Stein, bottom lip jutting out just the tiniest bit, and Stein is about to prompt him again when Kilik nods his head.

“Okay,” he says in a quiet voice, and Stein gently claps him on the shoulder.

“You’re good?”

Kilik nods yes again.

“Alright. Now let’s get inside and you can show us just exactly how capable you are.”

 

Kilik’s eyes widen when they pass through the stables. He doesn’t say anything, though, just simply stares at all the different kinds of dragons. A couple blow smoke rings at him as they pass, and he jumps and then laughs, and Stein’s heart warms at the sight. Given from what he’s seen about Kilik so far, he wonders how long it’s been since he’s laughed like that.

“So what exactly is your situation?” Kilik asks once they exit the stables. His voice is lighter now, sounding much more comfortable than he was before. “I got some of it when I read your guys’ auras, but--oh, wait--” Red blossoms over Kilik’s face as he realizes what he’s just said, and he averts his eyes.

“I--sorry,” he sighs out in defeat. 

Stein knows where he’s coming from. Generally, aura readings given without consent were looked down upon because of the amount of information people can gather from a single reading. Stein normally would adhere to that, but he also knows Kilik had only been doing it to keep himself safe.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he says. “I understand.”

Kilik looks up at him, sees the sincerity in Stein’s eyes, and then lets out a soft breath.

“Okay,” he says.

“So, what do you already know? I don’t want to be giving you redundant information.”

Kilik perks up at this.

“Well, I know you’re worried about the High Witch, as you should be with a school like this. I know you’ve recently let someone into your school who you don’t know can be trusted or not, and that you’re also kind of at odds with--” Kilik and Stein round a corner and almost run into Spirit, standing just outside the door to Crona’s room.

“--him.”

“What about me?” Spirit says, a smile playing across his face.

“Oh, I was just explaining what I read in your auras,” Kilik says. “You both are upset at each other over this person you let in, but you’re hiding it pretty well even though sometimes you let it slip. Don’t worry, I can tell your feelings for each other are strong enough to get over this. Your relationship will be fine.” 

Stein reels at Kilik’s words and for a moment he forgets what exactly they’re supposed to be doing here. It isn’t until Kilik prompts him with a “...So? Is this where you want me to do the reading?” that Stein manages to get himself under control. He blinks and looks down at Kilik and then to the door, trying to ignore the roaring in his ears and burning on his skin.

“Yes--yes, it is,” he says hastily, reaching past Spirit and fumbling for the doorknob. He’s trying to avoid eye contact with Spirit, hoping Spirit didn’t catch on to anything. Kilik seemed oblivious about it, but now  _ relationship _ and  _ feelings _ were ricocheting around his head and blocking out any other forms of coherent thought.

As they step inside the room, Stein is painfully aware of Spirit standing just behind him. He squeezes his eyes shut and blinks a couple of times again, and then tries to refocus on Kilik.

Kilik is pacing around the room, frowning. He touches his fingers to one of the bedposts, and then crosses the room and places a hand on the mirror.

“Are you sure this is the room of the person you want me to read?”

“Crona’s--? Yes, this is their room,” Stein says.

Kilik frowns some more, brow furrowed, and then his expression clears as he brings his gaze up to Stein and Spirit.

“It’s you two. Your auras are out of control all of sudden--can you step outside a for a moment? Right outside the door should be enough. I just a need a barrier of Crona’s aura separating me from you guys to get an accurate reading.”

Stein swallows but nods his head, and he turns around to find Spirit already opening the door. He follows Spirit out reluctantly, feeling almost like a petulant child as he softly closes the door behind them.

Stein has managed to calm himself a little since Kilik’s reading, but there’s still something twisting inside him and he can’t sedate it. The silence stretched between him and Spirit is long and uncomfortable, made worse by the refusal of both of them to look at each other.

Spirit finally clears his throat after what seems like a thousand years.

“Do you think this kid is up for the job?” Spirit says. “Will he be able to get a reading we can trust?”

“I think so,” Stein says, forcing his voice to stay level. “From what he’s shown so far, his readings are pretty accurate.”

Then he freezes, the implications of his words catching up to him. He thinks he can feel Spirit tensing up beside him, but that might just be his hyperactive imagination.

“Stein--” Spirit starts to say, and Stein is losing his battle of  _ don’t look at him don’t look at him _ , and then whatever Spirit was going to say is lost when the door to Crona’s bedroom opens and Kilik steps out.

“I think I got something,” he says, voice a little breathless, and Stein doesn’t think he’s ever been more grateful for a distraction before.

“Tell us,” he says.

“From what I can sense, there’s no hostile forces here,” he says, and Stein slumps in relief, tension from ever since Crona first arrived evaporating from his body.

“There’s nothing hostile here,” Kilik reiterates, “but there’s still something I can’t quite read.

That makes Stein straighten back up, narrowing his eyes at the information. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, there’s some other magical presence in the school. It’s different from the dragons, but I can’t exactly pinpoint it. I tried to get to it, but it pushed back at me and wouldn’t let me through. It didn’t seem conscious, though, more like...an instinct. Whoever--or whatever--it was, I don’t think they know I tried to read it. However,” Kilik adds on, “it can’t hide everything. Although I can’t see its exact intentions, I can still read the vague motivations behind them, and I can assure you that there is nothing malicious anywhere in this school.”

Stein can practically  _ feel _ the  _ I told you so  _ radiating off Spirit, but it’s tempered with something else that he can’t quite read.

“Thank you, Kilik,” Stein says sincerely. “We really appreciate your help, as I’m sure you know.”

Kilik nods, a twinkle in his eye.

“However,” Stein continues, “we should still be alert. There’s no use letting our guards down completely, although, thanks to you, we can feel more secure here nonetheless. Is there anything we can do to repay the favor?”

“No, that’s okay. Besides, you already gave me the coins up front,” he says with a grin.

Kilik’s light tone breaks the more serious mood surrounding Stein and Spirit, and something in Stein relaxes as he lets out a soft laugh.

“Of course,” he says. “Don’t hesitate to let us know if you change your mind.”

Kilik nods, and then says, “Actually, can you walk me out? I wasn’t really paying attention how we got here.”

“Leaving already?” Spirit asks.

Kilik shrugs.

“I have business in town I need to take care of.”

 

Stein is the one to walk Kilik out, leaving Spirit to his own devices as he runs off to a different part of the school. The walk is mostly silent, but filled with a pleasant atmosphere.

“I can find my way from here,” Kilik says, once they step outside the school doors and into the sunlight.

“Kilik,” Stein says, and Kilik stops to turn around and face Stein. “Are you sure you want to go back to town? If you’d like, I have plenty of openings at my school if you feel like staying.”

Kilik smiles, a real, genuine smile, the first one Stein’s seen on him.

“I appreciate it,” he says. “I really do. Maybe the future will find me back here, but as for the present, I do actually have a few things to take care of in town. After that...I have an adventure in mind.” His eyes twinkle. “I’ve always wanted the companionship of a dragon.

Stein senses the finality in Kilik’s tone and realizes that there really is nothing much more he can say to make Kilik stay. Like he said, maybe he’ll come back here someday. For now, though, Stein knows Kilik needs to do this for himself.

“Stay safe out there,” is all Stein says.

Kilik raises his hand in a wave, and then he walks across the clearing and into the brush of the forest without looking back.

 

Brightly colored sparks dance in the clearing in front of the school; it’s been hours since Kilik has left and the sun has just set below the horizon. Spirit had picked up some firecrackers on their trip into town, and he’s brought them out now, much to the kids’ delight. Stein stands off to the side as Spirit dances around with one of the bigger ones clasped in his hands. A few kids are watching him with bright eyes while others are playing around with their own crackers. Some of the dragons had also decided to come out and watch, snorting occasional sparks to join the rings of smoke from the firecrackers.

As Spirit’s firecracker burns out, he drops it on the ground and then crushes it underneath the toe of his boot. He looks up and catches Stein’s eye, send a smile his way, and Stein’s heart skips a beat. Kilik’s words from earlier are still fresh in his mind, and he gets pulled back into them again so easily that he doesn’t notice Spirit coming up to him until he says “Well, you look like you’re having loads of fun,” right in his ear, and Stein jumps.

“What? I--what?”

Spirit sighs and takes a step back, crossing his arms.

“What’s going on with you?” he says. “You’ve been...off ever since Kilik left.”

“It’s nothing,” Stein says immediately, frowning, and then immediately regretting it as Spirit’s expression turns sour.

“Stein,” Spirit starts, and somehow Stein knows exactly where Spirit is going with this. “About what Kilik said today--”

“I don’t think we have anything to worry about, he seemed confident that Crona wasn’t a threat,” Stein interrupts him, knowing full well that was definitely not what Spirit was about to say. “I believe him.”

Stein glances over to see Spirit’s brow furrowed, a small frown gracing his mouth, and Stein’s heart dips in his chest.  _ Fuck.  _ This was definitely Not Good. Capital N, Capital G.

“I--” Spirit begins again, and then shakes his head almost imperceptibly. “Okay. You’re right,” he says, and Stein breathes out a silent breath of relief and...maybe a twinge of disappointment.

“I’m sorry, I just…” Stein trails off, thoughts escaping him,

“You sure you’re okay?” Spirit asks after a moment, and Stein catches the low tone of disbelief in his voice.

Stein sighs, tilts his head back to look at the stars slowly materializing in the sky, at a loss for words.

‘I guess there’s just a lot of stuff going on right now,” Stein says finally. “Too many things in my head all at once, you know?”

“Yeah, I know the feeling,” Spirit says. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“If you change your mind, I’m always here. You know that right?”

Stein swallows around the sudden lump in his throat. It takes him a couple seconds to get his words around it.

“I know. Thank you, Spirit.”

Stein looks over at him to see a soft smile on Spirit’s face, and somehow, everything seems alright for just a moment.

“Of course,” Spirit says, and they lapse back into silence broken by delighted shouts from the kids as they set off another round of firecrackers. 

“So I was right,” Spirit speaks up again to fill the space between them, a playful lilt to his voice. To Stein, it sounds a bit forced, but he’ll take it.

“ _ Once _ . You were right about this one thing.”

“Only one thing? Hm, what about that one time when--”

“Nope, not that, just about Crona. I’ll only allow this one.”

Spirit laughs, and Stein joins in, and except for the tiny, persistent crack in Stein’s heart, things feel better.

Stein’s eyes land on the person in question; Crona is tentatively taking a firecracker from Maka, encouraged by the other students gathered around them. It seems like Blackstar and Crona have mended any differences between them, if the wide smile on Blackstar’s face as he watches Crona wave the firecracker around is any indication.

Crona lifts the cracker up, pointing it straight at the sky, and a fountain of sparks burst out of it brighter and higher than any of the others. The group of kids lets out hushed  _ ooh _ ’s and  _ ah _ ’s at the sight, and the happiness on Crona’s face tugs a smile out from Stein.

Still glowing brightly, the sparks drift slowly down to the ground, a few reaching Stein and Spirit at the edge of the clearing and settling into the grass at their feet, going out with a whisper of smoke.

Stein feels like that’s a symbolic cliche for something, but what exactly it is eludes him.

 

When Stein returns to the town a few days later with Spirit in tow again to see if Kilik is still around, he’s hit with a entirely different beast instead that completely lifts his focus off Kilik. 

There have always been rumors circling about the High Witch, but never in this kind of intensity. Rumors that she’s back and building an army again, rumors that she’s planning on taking down illegal dragon schools and dragon-friendly establishments, rumors that she’s built an entire underground network of tunnels running through the whole land with spies writing down names from underneath lawns...and, okay, maybe some of them were a little over the top. Still, the entire town seems like it’s buzzing, everyone on edge and looking over their shoulder for a shadow that disappears the minute they lay their eyes on it. This is the first time Stein’s seen people take something like this as seriously as everyone seems to be doing.

The apprehensive undertone has crept over his school too, Stein has realized. Even the dragons seem uneasy. It’s like something sliding against the grain of the wood, so slowly he almost can’t pinpoint it, but it’s still there nonetheless. He claims that as the reason why he calls his long term students to the stables on their off day. If this goes well, he’ll extend the extra lessons to his other students as well.

Stein is sure they know the reasons behind his impromptu lesson--they’re perceptive kids--but Stein hasn’t given them the full details yet. He’s not sure when he will, really, but some of them already seem to know. Tsubaki and Liz have a knowing look in their eyes, while others--Blackstar and Patty--just look happy to be here. Crona is a new addition, but after Kilik’s reading and the easy way his students got along with them so naturally, Stein had decided to let Crona in on their lessons. Okay, maybe that was Spirit who had made the final call, but that’s not important. Spirit is standing just behind him now, grounding him, giving him confidence to speak.

“Today we’re going to be starting some exercises I’ve been hesitant to do before,” Stein begins, “and so if anyone does not wish to take part in them today, they are free to leave and can join us back on our regular class schedule.” He pauses, and then says, “I have reasons to be interested in teaching you how to fight with your dragons.”

The dramatic air is broken by Blackstar, as he lets out a loud whoop of excitement, and Patty follows him with an even louder shout of joy. The other students also break out into chatter amongst themselves, although significantly quieter.

“However,” Stein raises his voice and waits for the babble to die down, “today we won’t be actually riding our dragons. I’d like to take you down into the storage room and get a feel for the different kinds of weaponry we have there. After you feel comfortable using whichever piece you’ve chosen, then we can move onto riding our dragons with them. Iit’s unnecessarily complicated to try learn how to use your weapon while trying to master a new style of riding that’s very different from what you all are used to. Is everyone on board with this so far?”

There’s a wave of nods across the group and several murmured confirmations, and Stein’s heart swells. He hates to have them doing this in the first place, but the support they give him is admirable and makes him feel like he’s done  _ something _ right. He wants them to be able to protect themselves if the High Witch does decide to pull something after years of silence.

“Keep in mind that saying yes now is not a signed contract,” Spirit says, speaking up for the first time. “Even if you start this, you can decide at any point to withdraw. Is that clear?”

Another round of “ _ yes’ _ s” circles the group.

“Good,” Stein says. “Spirit will also be joining us for these lessons. With this kind of intense training, it will be easier for us to help you if we have two teachers.”

Stein doesn’t miss the the faint disgruntled look on Maka’s face, but he leaves it be for now.

“Let’s head down to the storage room.”

Stein gestures for Spirit to lead the way, and Spirit walks them down the halls with a trail of students stepping sprightly behind them.

The storage room is dusty, settling into a state of near-disrepair caused by no one visiting it since they packed everything away years ago. Stein immediately spots the weapon he used in the war: a tall, black scythe, propped up in a far corner. It’s strange to see it now, in these circumstances, but he shakes the feeling off and turns to the kids trying to peer around him in interest.

“I’m not going to give you a lecture about this” Stein says, the serious undertone in his voice drawing the attention of his students to him. “You know how dangerous this can be. You can go in and look now, but just be cautious.”

Stein steps out of the way and the students eagerly squeeze their way into the room, eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Brings back the memories, doesn’t it?” Spirit says, stepping up to stand beside Stein.

“Yeah,” Stein says, letting out a short laugh. “Not very good ones, though.”

“Oh, come on, don’t you remember the good parts?” Spirit says, nudging Stein playfully. 

“All I remember is trying not to get killed by the High Witch,” Stein says bluntly, and Spirit rolls his eyes.

“What about all the fun we had together? Learning how to ride our dragons, sparring against each other for practice? I mean, yeah, sure, there were a lot of  _ not _ good parts. But there were also some--hey!”

Spirit cuts himself off in the middle of his sentence and rushes into the storage room, leaving Stein standing bemused in the doorway. Spirit runs over to a large chain mace hanging on the wall moments after Soul had ran his fingers over it. Soul is wandering onto the next item, oblivious to Spirit gently taking the mace off its hook and blowing the dust away. Stein sighs and steps into the room as well, feeling like he should get his hands on his old weapon too.

Picking his way over the crates and loose items dotting the floor, Stein makes it to the back wall where his scythe is resting. He pulls a tattered cloth from the depths of his pocket and lifts it up to the blade, gingerly wiping the dust off. It definitely needs a polish, but it’s surprisingly nice to have the scythe back in his hands. He tucks the cloth back in his pocket and tosses the scythe up a few inches and catches it again, testing out the balance between his fingertips. He already feels more confident handling it again, and he finds himself slowly growing more and more excited to pass his skills on to his students.

 

The next several days are filled with training. Stein manages to still make it to his regular lessons, but the students he’s teaching to fight are much more enthusiastic and require more of his time than he had originally expected. Although, to be fair, he probably should have expected a group of teenagers to get excited when handed a bunch of weapons. After their better-than-expected response, Stein starts to consider how he can implement these kind of lessons for his other students as well.

Stein starts out with the basics: learning how to handle their weapons (they miraculously make it through the first day without Patty giving anyone a black eye or broken nose with her brass knuckles and axe), and then move onto using targets, paper ones for the long distance fighters (Liz is particularly skilled with a crossbow) and practice dummies for the short range fighters (Soul displays excellent talent with his quarterstaff). 

 

When Stein moves forward to teach them how to ride their dragons with their weapons without giving their  _ dragons _ a black eye, he introduces the idea of fighting to his other students. A few express their discomfort with it and decide to just stick with their normal flying lessons, but most of them are on board with it. Those lessons go just as well as his long-term students’ lessons, albeit a little quieter without the overlapping shouts of Blackstar and Patty, only outdone by Kid when he yells at them both to shut up and concentrate.

Crona is still showing quiet eagerness to learn and bond with the other students, and Stein finds himself growing more and more partial to them everyday. It does seem like Spirit was right to bring them into the school, and Stein does feel slightly regretful about his actions towards them that night, but he really was only trying to protect his school. Now that he knows Crona isn’t a threat, he tries to connect with them more and make sure they feel at home here.

Although...something still doesn’t feel quite right. Crona is shifty around him, doesn’t look him in eye, and Stein would be worried if he hadn’t noticed Crona’s behavior is normal around everyone else. It seems like they’re fine around everyone but him...and that just makes Stein feel even worse. He dedicates himself to spending more time with them, helping them to train one on one a little bit more so than the others just to see if he could fix the rift between them.

“...and a sword’s definitely different from a scythe,” Stein says, standing before Crona with both their weapons held out on offense, “but if you break it down, they’re still both just huge knives you swing around to cut people’s heads off.”

The corner of Crona’s mouth twitches up at that, and Stein absolutely counts that as a victory.

“You want to make sure you always have a strong hold on your weapon, otherwise anyone could fling it out of your hands with a single strike. That’s what we can practice first today. Try knocking mine out of my hands.”

“Wh--attack you?” Crona says, eyes wide. “I’ve only ever practiced on the dummies before. I don’t--I don’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s okay,” Stein says, smiling softly. “I know it’s scary, but I promise you won’t hurt me. I won’t let you get hurt either, but I understand if you don’t want to do this.”

Crona takes a deep breath and steadies themself.

“No, I can do this,” they say, looking up to meet Stein’s eyes, and the determination there is tangible. Stein smiles again and nods his head.

“Alright. Come at me, then.”

Stein quickly learns that Crona is a natural at sword fighting. Their moves seem effortless, sliding into place without any resistance and timing their blows almost too perfectly. It keeps Stein on his toes, careful not to let either of them catch a blade to the head.

Along with their progressing swordsmanship, Stein feels like Crona is beginning to trust him more over the days they’re practicing together. They start loosening up around him, more laughter and less shutters pulled tight. He does notice, though, that Maka is the only one they seem to throw those shutters wide open around. He’s thankful that there’s someone to really help them feel like they belong here.

 

After a long day of training, Stein collapses into his bed, looking forward to a good night’s rest, and when a knock and then Spirit’s soft voice sounds from outside his door.

“Can I come in?” 

Stein crushes the tiny feeling of disappointment (goodbye, sleep) as he sits up and fumbles for the light by his bed.

“Yeah, come on in.”

Spirit pushes the door slowly with his palm and then closes it behind him with a quiet  _ click. _

“When are you going to tell them the reason why they’re learning to fight?”

_ Diving right into it, are we.  _ Stein thinks he’s a little too tired to properly deal with this right now, but by the way Spirit sits down comfortably on the foot of Stein’s bed, he doesn’t think Spirit will be leaving anytime soon.

“I don’t know,” Stein admits. “When do you think I need to tell them?”

“To be honest, I think we should have told them right when we introduced the idea of fighting to them in the first place,” Spirit says after a pause, his voice quiet. “I think they deserve to know.”

“Yeah...you’re right.”

“I know you don’t want them to be fighting at all,” Spirit says in a rush, “but I think this is the best thing. This shouldn’t be their reality--or  _ our _ reality, having to fight this war again--but that does look like what we’re facing now. I’d rather have them grow up a little too fast than find them dead on the floor of the school.”

Stein swallows, a chill of fear running down his spine.

“You’re right,” he repeats. “I’m glad you’re here to help me with this.”

“Of course,” Spirit says, somewhat dismissively. “I wouldn’t just stand by and watch for something like this.”

“No, I mean, actually,” Stein says sincerely, and he reaches out to grab Spirit’s hand on a whim. Spirit’s eyes widen a fraction, but he doesn’t pull away. “Your help, your support...it really does mean a lot to me. I...I wouldn’t have made it this far if it weren’t for you.”

Spirit’s expression melts into something soft, content, and Stein’s heart melts to match it.

“I’m glad I could be by your side all these years,” Spirit says. “Don’t think I’ll ever leave you.”

A few moments pass where Stein simply stares into Spirit’s eyes and Spirit stares back--searching for something, maybe--and then Spirit pulls away with a loud yawn.

“It’s late,” he says. “I’m gonna go get some rest for tomorrow’s training session.

“Yeah, of course,” Stein says, somewhat flustered now that the moment is broken. “Uh...have a good night.”

“You too,” Spirit says, not looking back at Stein as he crosses the room and opens the door, and Stein thinks he sees a red flush on Spirit’s face.  _ No. _ He was probably imagining it. It’s dark, and the lighting is tinted strange colors at night.

The door closes softly, and Stein manages to drift into a somewhat restless sleep, plagued by thoughts of  _ Kilik was right. _

 

_ God, Kilik was  _ so  _ right,  _ is the first thought that registers in Stein’s head when he wakes up. Having... _ feelings _ for Spirit, was never really something that had even crossed his mind. Spirit had just always been there beside him, an ever-present force, but...Stein thinks he may have been underestimating just how much Spirit has been affecting him.

It doesn’t feel... _ bad _ , necessarily, starting to figure out just how deep his sentiments run, but...he doesn’t really feel relieved, either. There’s so many things going on right now and this is just another thing to throw on top of that pile. Stein has enough shit to deal with. Feelings? Definitely  _ not  _ on his to-do list.

Spirit, however…

Stein throws his covers off in a rush, hurriedly slinging his legs over the side of the bed in an attempt to block out any other thoughts he absolutely does not need to be having at eight in the morning.

 

It turns out getting up out of bed doesn’t stem his thoughts of Spirit. He can’t get Spirit’s smile out of his mind, or the way his eyes twinkle when Stein says something amusing, or how Spirit laughs so loud at dumb jokes Stein rolls his eyes and then hides his smile behind his hands.

_ Fuck.  _ He’s in way too deep. How did he--how did he not even realize  _ any _ of this before?  _ Honestly. _

Stein throws open the door to his room, expecting to brush off all the distracting images and focus on his work day, but any hopes of that are immediately crushed as Stein finds himself face to face with Spirit standing directly outside his room, one hand in the air poised to knock.

“Oh, good morning,” Spirit says, wide eyed surprise showing briefly before his expression falls into a smile. Stein feels a strong urge to lean forward and kiss him, and he vaguely wonders not for the last time how his past self was so impossibly blind. Spirit’s lips look nice.

“You okay?” Spirit asks, one eyebrow raised, and it shakes Stein out of his temporary stupor.

“Yeah, I’m fine!” he says, a little too loudly. “Breakfast?’

“Sure,” is Spirit’s slightly hesitant response, and Stein hastily steps past him out into the hall without, not wanting to give Spirit any further reasons to question him this morning.

_ Oh, yeah, I’m fine, I just realized after years that I might be in love with my best friend out of nowhere. Or maybe it’s not out of nowhere, but I was just too much of a dumbass to realize, but I don’t know. How are you doing? _

Yeah. Not an ideal morning conversation.

Stein makes it past breakfast without doing anything overly embarrassing (it’s a good thing he’s naturally not someone who talks a lot--not opening his mouth except to take a bite of his toast proves to be a good tactic), otherwise he’s sure he would have gotten more inquiries about his well-being from Spirit. Instead, Spirit keeps to his own meal too, and breakfast passes in a barely comfortable silence.

 

Stein finds that training keeps his mind off topics preferably avoided. Even when he’s fighting with Spirit--for practice, or to demonstrate a particular move or style--his focus is dedicated to executing the moves correctly and keeping both himself and Spirit from getting sliced in half from his scythe or walloped over the head from Spirit’s chain mace rather than any other distracting subject matters. His students have also been progressing wonderfully over the past few weeks; he’s rather impressed with them. All of them, both his long-term and short-term students, have been showing extreme dedication and seriousness to their training.

Stein still needs to figure out when he’s going to tell them about the reason behind their training, though.

It happens one night when he, Spirit, and his long-term students are having dinner in the clearing outside the school. The kids were already outside, the temperature was nice, why not? 

He’s decided to tell his long-term students first, not necessarily because he trusts them more, but...he’s around them more often, knows them better, and knows more what they’re able to handle compared to his short-term students. If this goes over well, he’ll tell his other students the next time they have class.

“So,” Stein starts, “I guess I haven’t been entirely honest with you guys about...why we’re doing all this training now.”

Confident their attention is focused on him over their dinner now, he continues.

“I’ve always been hesitant to teach you how to fight because it wasn’t necessary, there was no current threat and I think learning how to bond with your dragons is more important than learning how to fight with them. That being said--”

“The High Witch is coming back,” Kid says, and Stein sits straight up in shock.

“What?”

“We all know,” Kid says. “It’s not just you two that hear gossip from town. Also, what other reason would you be teaching us how to fight?”

“He’s got a point,” Spirit says, and Stein looks over to see Spirit hiding a smile behind his hand.

“Oh, knock it off,” Stein says as his heart skips a beat at the brightness of Spirit’s eyes. “Thanks for ruining my dramatic reveal,” he adds, and the group dissolves into laughter, the tense moment broken.

Stein notices that Crona isn’t laughing with the rest of them, though--a small, strained smile jumps onto their face and then off again just as quickly. Stein draws his eyebrows together, worried, but returns to the rest of the group to address them further

“Yes, I think the High Witch may be coming back,” he says. “Obviously, nothing’s confirmed, but...I’d rather have you prepared than caught unawares. Like we’ve said in the past, if you don’t want to keep up with this training, just say the word and you can go back to your regular lessons. The last thing I want to do is force any one of you to fight a battle you have no wish to take part in. However...if the High Witch is coming back, it may be a war you’re involved in whether you like it or not.”

The expressions on the student’ faces have returned to grim, but none of them look like they’re going to change their mind about the training.

Then, breaking the silence, Crona stands up all of a sudden and says, “I’m sorry, I have to--to--”

And with that, they’re striding across the field, towards the school, their dinner left abandoned on the ground.

Maka springs up immediately and dashes after them without a word, catching the door just as Crona disappears inside of the school while Stein is still at a loss of what to say.

“Well, that was a good dinner and talk,” Spirit says, “but now it’s time to head inside. More training tomorrow, long day.”

There’s the usual grumbling of  _ it’s not even that late _ as Stein sends a silent prayer of thanks to Spirit for diffusing the situation. He has no way of telling how the other students are feeling about Crona’s abrupt departure, but there isn’t really anything he can do about that right now. He quickly disposes of his the rest of his dinner and makes his way to Crona’s room, hoping to the gods above that’s where the two of them went.

Spirit right on his heels, Stein bursts into Crona’s room and inadvertently startles Maka and Crona, both sitting on Crona’s bed, making them jump as they enter the room.

Stein takes a second to collect himself and then addresses them.

“Crona, is there anything you’d like to talk to us about?

“ _ Can  _ you talk to us right now?” Spirit interjects before Crona can say anything. “We can come back later if you need some time. It seemed like you were a little...rattled during dinner.”

Crona takes a deep breath in, closes their eyes, and Maka reaches out to take their hand where it’s resting on the mattress. Crona’s eyes shoot open, but they don’t move away from Maka’s touch.

“No, I can talk,” they say, voice shaky but sure. They continue when Stein prompts them with a nod. “I’ve just...I’ve had bad experiences with the High Witch in the past,” and their bottom lip trembles. Stein feels his heart break in two.

“I--I can’t--”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Spirit says hastily, and he sits down on the bed beside them. “You don’t have to tell us details--or anything--if you’re not ready. You’re brave for just sitting here bringing it up in the first place. Don’t feel like you have to say things you’re not ready for.”

When Crona looks up and gives Spirit a smile, Stein is half relieved that Spirit is handling this so well and half...jealous?  _ Maybe _ . He wants to be able to give Crona the comfort they clearly deserve, but he doesn’t think they trust him enough to do that yet. For now, he’ll let Spirit take care of this.

“She did things...to me, or to the people around me that...scared me,” Crona continues. “I--I don’t know how to stop being scared.” Crona trails off in a quiet voice and Stein’s heart only breaks further.

“Listen,” Stein says, unable to keep his silence any longer. “ You are safe here. Do you hear me?  _ You. Are. Safe. Here _ . I promise I will never allow the High Witch near you ever again. And I don’t break my promises.” He pauses, and then adds on, “If you want to stop the training exercises, if training to fight the High Witch is bringing back too many bad memories, you can--”

“No.” Crona interrupts him, and the determination in their tone surprises Stein. “I want to be strong enough to defend myself against her if she ever comes back. I don’t want to be... _ helpless _ , like I was before. There are people here that I-- _ care _ about--” Crona seems to almost choke over  _ care-- _ “and I want to be able to protect them too. I  _ need  _ to become stronger.”

“If that’s your decision, I will do my best to help you to the furthest extent that I can,” Stein says, and seeing Crona smile at him with a wide, genuine, albeit tearful, smile, makes this all worth it.

“We’ll let you go now,” he says, a warm feeling he can’t quite shake filling his chest as he stands up. Spirit does the same. “Get a good night’s rest, and we’ll see you in the morning for some training.” Crona nods, smile still on their face, and just before Spirit shuts the door, Stein catches a last glimpse of Maka still holding tight onto Crona’s hand.

 

A week later, everything goes to hell.

 

Stein wakes up in the middle of the night, cold sweat prickling over his skin, but he can’t quite pinpoint the source of his discomfort. He slings his legs over the side of his bed and pads out into the hall, and then he realizes what it is.

The Nympharums. 

They’re  _ humming. _

Humming, buzzing, filled to the brim with anticipation and alarm, Stein can almost feel the rumble in the floor of the school, running up into his body and setting his heart beating a hundred miles an hour.

The High Witch.

“ _ Stein!”  _ someone shouts, and Stein nearly jumps out of his skin.

Spirit comes skidding around the corner, eyes wide and hair frazzled from sleep, and he reaches out for Stein and Stein grabs his hands on instinct.

“Stein, what is--what’s--”

“Hey, take a breath, it’s okay,” Stein says, and then Spirit is throwing his arms around Stein and Stein wraps him into a hug with no hesitation. 

“Is this really the High Witch?” Spirit asks, voice muffled and scared into Stein’s shoulder, and Stein grips him even tighter.

“I think so,” he whispers, and they let the hug go but stay holding tightly onto each other’s hands like there’s no tomorrow. With the way this night seems to be headed, there might as well be no tomorrow.

They spend a moment searching each other’s eyes--fear, desperation, hopelessness; after years and years Stein finally had thought that there wouldn’t be another war. That the High Witch was gone for good, that he and Spirit wouldn’t have to relieve the horrors of the war they’d fought in together nine years ago again. 

But here they are, in each others arms, about to go to war with the High Witch just like the old days.

Stein’s never understood people who use that phrase in a sentimental way.

“Get the students up,” is all Stein says, and they break apart without another word.

 

The High Witch’s army descends upon the school with no warning.

Stein stumbles outside just in time to see a swarm of Nympharums frantically fluttering up from the stalks and into the midnight sky, and the next second the night seems to come alive as dragons of every shape and size materialize from the trees and surround them.

Scythe in hand, he jumps onto Cyphus’ back and loses track of his students in an instant as the High Witch’s army rushes up to meet them. It’s only the will surging up inside of him to  _ keep them safe  _ that fuels his energy to leap forwards and swing his scythe as cries and the screech of metal swirl up around him. If it weren’t for his students, Stein would take Spirit and run, leaving someone else to fight this battle. He’s done.

But he somehow manages to find strength in his arms, urging Cyphus into the air and taking off after the witches. Everything is a blur around him--the beating of wings, the acrid stench of smoke, the hissing of blood as it splatters to the grass. There’s no sign of the High Witch herself. Maybe she had just sent her cronies here to do her dirty work for her, take down the first obstacle standing in her way, but somehow Stein doesn’t think so. The High Witch has always had a penchant for wanting to see first-hand the destruction she’s leveling towns with.

The first witch comes at him from above, swinging at him with a hammer that has sparks dancing around the head. Cyphus jerks out of the way, managing to avoid the claws aimed at his eyes from the dragon while Stein throws his scythe out to deflect the blow from the hammer. The witch bares his teeth at Stein and his hammer crackles threateningly, but Stein isn’t unsettled. He knows a beginner when he sees one.

Stein gets to his feet on Cyphus’ back and swipes a wide arc with his scythe, and with the witch caught off guard, the blade catches him square in the center of his chest. Stein doesn’t even blink, and Cyphus is taking off before Stein even gets the chance to see the witch’s eyes go sightless.

As the battle continues, Stein not even bothering to count the number of witches he’s toppled off their dragons, something akin to hopelessness starts crawling over his skin. He had trained his students well, but it’s them--just them--against an entire  _ army _ . It’s not like they had any other choice but to fight, but...Stein wishes there was have been something else he could have done to keep his students safe. He’s caught glimpses of them throughout the battle, and he’s been tempted to step in, but then another witch rounds on him and diverts his attention back to keeping  _ himself  _ safe before he can. Although, come to think of it, he hasn’t seen Crona this entire time yet. Stein really hopes they’re handling themself alright, but honestly, he doesn’t have the luxury to keep his thoughts focused on them as the force of the battle slowly but surely overtakes them.

Stein is a good fighter. He really is. But plain and simple, there’s just  _ too many  _ of them. They can’t keep an entire army at bay.

Stein’s muscles are also screaming at him for relief. His scythe feels like it’s getting heavier with every swing he takes, and his strikes are now catching on people’s weapons rather than their heads. He’s getting slow. And tired. And he really, really, just wants this to be over.

The witch he’s fighting now is small but lightning fast, avoiding every single of his attacks and managing to get a couple hits on him instead with their twin daggers. It’s just a few shallow cuts on his arms and then also a stab to Cyphus’ side, dislodging one of his scales, but it’s draining Stein’s motivation more than his blood. Suddenly, the witch tugs their dragon to a halt in midair, glancing fearfully up to the sky, and Stein is at a loss until he hears it too.

The wingbeats of a  _ swarm _ of dragons fill the air. They’re still hidden by the trees, but Stein can tell their numbers are huge. He might as well just toss his scythe out into the trees and surrender now, because if the High Witch has sent more back up, then he’s going to be dead soon anyways. 

The first dragon crests over the tree line, a beautiful, sea-green tone from what Stein can see in the moonlight, with a young boy seated comfortably across its back. All around him, Stein can see the other people and witches letting their weapons drop limp to their sides as they stare up at the sky. It’s only when the rest of the dragons begin flooding over the tops of the trees that Stein finally realizes he  _ knows _ that boy.

“Hey guys,” Kilik says, his voice carrying across the open air. “Thought I’d drop in and say hi.”

With Kilik, and the near-thousand reinforcements he’d brought from god knows where, Stein can feel the tide of the battle slowly turning. Although Kilik’s appearance had greatly increased Stein’s confidence, he’s still unsure about the outcome of the battle. He knows it won’t be truly over unless he can get to the High Witch. She still hasn’t shown up yet, not that Stein can see, but he’s  _ sure _ she’ll show her face sooner or later. She has to.

Stein’s focus finally breaks out of its blurry bars when the witch he’s fighting with swings her sword down at just the right angle so it clips Stein right on the shoulder--he lets out an involuntary gasp of pain and suddenly the scene around him becomes clearer. Narrowing his eyes, he maneuvers Cyphus into a drop and then swings upwards with his scythe before the witch even knows what he’s doing. He catches the witch’s dragon on the underside of its belly with the blade, leaving it wailing and screaming as it plummets to the ground in agony, taking its rider with it.

When Stein looks up, wiping the burning drops of dragon blood from his his face, he catches a glimpse of something...that he thinks might be the High Witch crawling into the trees. Blonde hair, tattoos wrapped around her forearms...why she’s down there and not somewhere she can survey the battle from a better advantage point, Stein doesn’t know, but cold determination settles into his heart nonetheless. He doesn’t even bother looking as he beheads a passing soldier, urging Cyphus into a dive.

He loops around the trees, trying to lose anyone still on his tail. He swings his scythe out to catch one last straggler, and when Stein looks behind him, he’s alone except for Cyphus and the sickly feeling in the forest beneath him. When Cyphus touches silently down and Stein slides off his back, he shudders when his feet hit the forest floor.

Dark magic goes against the grain of nature, rotting the life out of the flora and fauna and taking away any semblance of flourishing and beauty. Witches are more sensitive to the flow of magic, dark or otherwise, but even Stein can feel the effect of the High Witch.

The trees are dense, and Stein grips his scythe just a little tighter. He’s only ever faced the High Witch once in the past, and that was with Spirit by his side. Now, he’s by himself.

Just past a cluster of trees, Stein thinks he can hear voices. He stops, and Cyphus halts behind him as well, allowing the voices to come through without the sounds of leaves crunching under their feet filtering anything out.

Stein can’t make out any words, but...he thinks one of the voices sounds familiar, although it’s still too quiet for him to place.

He cautiously takes a few more steps forwards, and then his eyes catch on something that looks exceedingly out of place in the pine forest. It’s a flash of bright pink, moving through the spaces in between the trees in a way that makes it look just like...hair.

Stein’s heart drops down to his stomach.

_ No.  _ It couldn’t be--there was no way it could be Crona. They couldn’t have betrayed them--not after Stein had let them into his  _ school _ and  _ trained  _ them and--

Stein had let a spy for the High Witch through his doors.

He sees red and he stalks forwards, ignoring any consequences that might come.

“Crona!” he calls out, voice cracking from the conflicting emotions rising in his throat as he pushes aside the last of the branches and finds Crona backed up at the edge of the clearing with the High Witch walking slowly towards them. The High Witch immediately snaps her head to Stein, that snake-like grin of hers never leaving her face.

“Ah,” Medusa says. “Look at what the cat dragged in.”

The full force of Medusa’s eyes on him sends a waterfall of repressed memories cascading through his mind like no other parts of the battle have and he falters. Dragons falling from the sky like stones--entire cities aflame, people with more ash than face--and worst of all, Spirit, screaming, and Stein unable to do anything but stand there and watch.

“Stein--” Crona says, and their voice snaps him out of the depths of his mind.

“ _ You _ ,” Stein says, leveling his scythe at them, “you have no right to talk to me. I let you into my school against my better judgement, I let you train alongside my students, I treated you--” Stein breaks off for a moment, swallowing. “I treated you with kindness. And  _ love.  _ And this is how you repay me? By bringing an entire  _ army _ to my school to slaughter me and my students?!”

“No,  _ please _ listen, that wasn’t me, I--”

“Well, well, well, this is certainly interesting,” Medusa says, finally speaking again after having simply stood back and listened curiously to Stein and Crona’s exchange. “You really thought Crona was one of the good guys?”

Medusa puts on an overdramatic pout and takes a step closer to Stein.

“Aw, not only that, you almost had started treating them like...they were your  _ child.” _

“Stein, please, I--” Crona starts to speak again, sounding on the verge of tears, and then Medusa throws a hand out behind her and Crona gasps, but no sound comes out. They clutch at their throat, eyes wide as they stare at Stein helplessly, but all Stein can see is the person that brought destruction and war upon his school.

“As it turns out,” Medusa continues, “Crona already has a family. And that family is  _ me.” _

Stein reels, stumbling a step backwards. The High Witch--Medusa--was Crona’s  _ family _ ?  

Medusa  _ tsks _ .

“Ignorant boy,” she says, still stepping slowly closer to Stein. “So desperately wanting a family of your own, someone to love you, but sooner or later everyone just...disappears, because they realize you’re not  _ worth _ their love.”

Blood rushes in Stein’s ears, rage masking the shattered bits of his heart, and he pauses, disoriented, unsure if he should be focusing that rage on Medusa or Crona.

“You know,” Medusa says, stepping back and and gesturing towards Crona, “I was just about to kill them myself. I have no use for them anymore. Why don’t you go ahead and do it yourself? Get revenge for all for all the  _ pain _ they’ve caused you.”

Stein takes a hesitant step forwards, towards Crona, but halts after he sees the desperation in their eyes, still unable to form words. They’re cowering against the trunk of a tree, fear seeming to have frozen their legs.

“I sent to them to this school alone, dragonless, and defenseless, knowing  _ you  _ of all people would take pity on a  _ wretch  _ like them and allow them into your school.”

Stein takes another cautious step forward, palms starting to feel sweaty around the handle of his scythe, and Cyphus lets out a warning growl behind him. Stein wants to look at what he’s unsettled about, but he doesn’t dare turn his back to Medusa.

“Oh, just go ahead and kill them already!” Medusa screeches all of a sudden, eyes lighting up with a frenzied fury, and suddenly something clicks in Stein’s head. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, trying not to let his knees give out underneath him, and then he turns towards Medusa.

“You said dragonless,” he begins slowly. “Crona arrived at my school with their dragon. Mia.”

Medusa freezes, and then merely sighs, and Stein’s brow creases for a moment.

“Oh, well,” Medusa says, but she just looks bored. “Fine, you’re right. Crona didn’t come here as a spy, they ran away from  _ me _ , their dear old mother, and I’ve only been trying to get them back this whole time.”

Medusa pouts again, eyes wide and innocent, and Stein doesn’t hesitate a second before leaping at Medusa with his scythe aimed straight at her heart.

“Sorry, playtime’s over,” Medusa says, and just before Stein can reach her, the tattoos peel themselves off her arms and snakes shoot out to encircle Stein, pinning his limbs together. He grunts when he hits the ground, the dull thump reverberating through his bones, and his scythe follows, landing just out of reach.

Cyphus roars and leaps into the clearing himself, and Stein lets out a shout when Medusa thrusts her arms out again and sleek arrows shoot up from the ground and entangle themselves around Cyphus’ legs and winding around his mouth, keeping him ground-ridden and muzzled.

“You too, I guess,” Medusa adds as almost an afterthought, and the next second Crona is deposited next to Stein, trapped by an identical snake. “I suppose I can take that off now, too.”

She snaps her fingers and Crona gasps, and Stein can  _ hear _ it this time.

“I’m sorry--” they start out softly, but Stein cuts them off.

“No. I don’t want to hear it,” he says, and Crona just lowers their eyes like they were expecting Stein to be upset with them. 

“You don’t get to say anything until I can give you my thorough apology in full first,” he finishes, and Crona looks up at him in disbelief, tears rimming their eyelids.

“Wow, are you finished yet?” Medusa says, yawning loudly. “I’m bored. Oh, wait--you don’t get to decide when you’re done:  _ I _ do.”

Medusa rolls her sleeves up, taking a few steps closer. 

“Since I couldn’t get you to kill Crona without knowing that they weren’t actually here on my order--and  _ god  _ that would have been a fun conversation to have with you once you were done--I guess I’ll just have to do it myself.”

Medusa lowers her arms, hands pointed straight at both their faces, and before Stein can even close his eyes, bright orange fire envelopes the clearing in a loud roar.

It takes a couple seconds for Stein to realize that he’s not actually burning up, and he hesitantly opens his eyes to find the entire clearing on fire, licking up the tree trunks and dissolving the grass into ash.

“ _ Stein _ !” comes Spirit’s voice faintly through the hissing of the fire and Stein’s heart leaps. The heavy smoke obscures his vision and he can’t pinpoint Spirit’s location, but then the binds around him loosen and he jumps up immediately, thoughts only of getting him and Crona out of there remaining.  He rushes over to help Crona stand up as the snake withers off them too, and somewhere in the haze, Cyphus’ looming shape rears up and he lets out an earth-shaking roar.

The fire is spreading rapidly, reaching hungrily across the clearing, and Stein hauls Crona up into his arms and stumbles over to the tree line. The smoke is thinner outside the clearing, the leaves filtering it out, and Crona throws their arms around Stein the second he sets them down. They’re trembling, and when they pull away, their cheeks are streaked with tears.

“ _ Stein _ !” comes Spirit’s voice again, and this time when Stein looks up, he sees Spirit dismounting Saturn and racing over to them. Kilik is there too, standing back with a hand on his dragon’s neck. His expression is serious but strong, and he doesn’t look badly hurt.

“What happened?” Spirit says. “Are you--”

“There’s no time for this now,” Stein says, a rough edge to his voice from the smoke, as much as he wishes he could do nothing but fall into Spirit’s arms. “We need to finish this.”

“Mia,” Crona manages to choke out.

“What? What about her?”

“I don’t know,” Crona says, eyes watery. “Medusa, she--she hurt Mia when she took me, I don’t know where she is and--”

“We’ll find her,” Stein says firmly. “Come hop on Cyphus with me and we’ll look for her. We don’t want anyone else getting their hands on her. Spirit--” Stein looks to him, and he nods.

“We’ll get right back into it,” he says, and he calls Saturn over to him. Kilik follows, mounting his own dragon, and they take off into the sky together. Stein lets his gaze linger on the fire behind them before he and Crona climb onto Cyphus.

Crona leads them back to where Medusa had first confronted them and Stein flies Cyphus faster than he thought he’d ever flown before. His heart drops when they skid around a tight cluster of trees, and lying on the ground, entangled in the underbrush, is Mia.

Crona lets out a muffled noise and they jump off Cyphus before his feet have barely even touched the ground. Stein follows right after, watching as Crona puts a hand up to Mia’s neck. Mia isn’t moving, not even the flick of an ear or twitch of muscle at their arrival. There’s a large, smoking wound on her side, pale yellow and black scarring mixed with the glimmering silver of dragon’s blood. A multitude of scales are missing or chipped, lying around her mixed with snapped branches like some sort of sick mosaic.

Crona’s shoulders are shaking, hands trembling as they reach out over Mia, touching her neck and face and trying to get  _ some  _ tiny sign of life.

Stein suddenly picks up on a different tone from far away; the screams have changed, rising in volume and shifting in tone, and fear drops down his spine. Stein never actually saw Medusa in that fire--could she have escaped, and is now engaging in reigning terror down herself?

“I need to go,” Stein says, but Crona doesn’t even look up at him. “Do  _ not _ move!”

He breaks into a jog back to Cyphus and swings his legs over his dragon’s back. 

“Stay right here, I’ll be right back!”

Crona still gives no indication that they’ve heard, and Cyphus leaps into the night sky lit up by the trees burning like torches.

When Stein breaks into the thick of the fight, Cyphus stops dead in his tracks, and they simply hang in the air for several moments until Stein can wrap his head around what he’s seeing.

The dragons of Medusa’s army are ripping from their magical bindings, screaming as they twist and turn in the air, joined by the shouts of their riders who are tossed off their back into the shadows of the trees. Some, already free, are shooting up into the sky, high enough that they’re blotting out the stars, while some are still wrestling with their riders in the forest.

Their eyes are wild, filled with something Stein has never seen in a dragon before. All around him is a stifling sense of chaos and Stein suddenly isn’t sure which way is up and which way is down anymore.

“They’re rejecting the dark magic,” comes a voice beside him, and Stein turns to see Kilik atop his dragon, staring at the writhing shadows around them with awe in his eyes.

“That’s what was binding them to The High Witch,” he continues, “and now that she’s gone, her magic can no longer hold them.”

Stein tightens his fingers around Cyphus’ reins, steeling himself from falling off of Cyphus’ back in shock.

“What did you say?”

“About the dark magic?”

“No, I--Medusa? She’s gone? Are you sure?”

“Well, weren’t you there when she caught on fire along with the forest?” Kilik says, finally turning to look at Stein, a twinkle in his eye despite the destruction surrounding them.

“Yes, but--she’s a witch. I’m sure she has a long list of tricks she can use to nullify the effects of dragonfire.”

“Well...maybe I put a little magic of my own in there,” Kilik says, and it takes a couple seconds for it to register in Stein’s head, but--

“She’s... _ gone?  _ She’s really and truly gone?”

“Are you doubting my skills?” Kilik says playfully, and Stein lets out a _laugh._

The moment of bliss doesn’t last long, as the memory of Crona kneeling over Mia’s body comes rushing back to him all at once, unfiltered now that the threat of Medusa has vanished, and he grows cold.

“I have to go,” he says, and he spins Cyphus around and dives back down to where he left Crona.

Stein isn’t really sure what he’s seeing , but as he gets closer, there’s no denying it; Mia is...sitting up? And...drinking something out of Crona’s hand?

Crona looks to Stein with an exhausted yet genuine smile, but doesn’t leave Mia’s side.

“She’s okay,” they say, and Stein feels like he could collapse to the ground in relief. Instead, he walks over to them and lays a comforting hand on Crona’s shoulder.

It looks like Mia is lapping water out of Crona’s hands on first glance, but now that Stein is closer, it seems more like a golden liquid. Stein swallows. Is Crona really a witch? He still hasn’t gotten the full story on what happened between them and Medusa.

“Can you tell me how you were involved with Medusa?” he asks. “I know it’s still fresh, but...I hope you do understand I’m asking just so I know the full story and can do my best to keep everyone safe.”

Crona doesn’t say anything, but after a pause they lower their hands from Mia’s face and turn to him.

“Medusa is my mother,” they say quietly, not meeting Stein’s eyes, “and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I didn’t want for you to turn me away if you knew that we were related. I needed some place to stay, away from her.”

Crona turns back to Mia and walks around to her side, where the wound is still smoking. They lay their hands over it and continue talking.

“I’m a witch, but not the kind of witch Medusa wanted me to be. I’ve never been good at dark magic, never liked it. My deadly adders and poisoned wine often turned out to be baby birds and sweet tea.” They crack a bit of a smile, but their voice is still hard. “She would stick me in dark rooms for days, not let me eat, tried to force my hand in creating dark magic in every way that she could until...I’d had enough. I ran away. I was terrified those first several days, constantly looking over my shoulder, scared that Medusa was going to spring out at me from every dark alley. And then...I met Mia.” Crona smiles again, a real smile, and removes their hands from Mia’s side. The wound still looks bad, but it had closed over and stopped smoking from Crona’s touch. Mia nuzzles their head into Crona’s palm and then licks their cheek.

“We took care of each other, and it was good for a while, but I realized eventually I needed someplace to stay. I couldn’t keep living out on unclaimed land. So one night I stumbled across your school, and…” They trail off, and give a shrug. Stein knows the rest of the story.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly, thinking he really needed to own up to Spirit after this was all over. If it weren’t for him, Crona would still be out living by themself, or worse, dead by Medusa’s hand. Although, if it weren’t for Spirit, Medusa never would have been drawn to their school in the first place…

“I’m sorry, too,” Crona says, almost as if sensing Stein’s thoughts. “It was never my intention to bring this upon your school.”

Stein sighs.

“No, it’s not your fault,” he says. “Medusa would have found us at some point or another.”

Crona dips their head, hand still resting on Mia’s neck, and all around them, the fires only grow brighter.

 

With Mia grounded, Stein opts to leave Crona with her while he flys out to survey the ending of the battle and to locate his students. There are no more opposing soldiers, all having fled after Medusa’s magic gave out. Stein catches glimpses of the tail end of a few of them as they disappear into the forest.

From high up, the carnage of the battle doesn’t seem too bad, but as he gets closer, he can see the reality of the toll it took. The woods are still burning, filling the sky with more embers than there are stars, yet they’re almost all obscured by the smoke hanging in the air. Bodies lay strewn about, not discriminating between Medusa’ army or the people who had arrived with Kilik to help them. Dragons, too, lie motionless on the ground, with spears sticking out from their flanks or scales melted to their skin from hostile dragonfire. This is nothing new to him, and each step he takes brings back more and more memories from the past war.

However, amongst all the fallen, there are still survivors, leaning on each and their dragons for support, faces filled with both relief and loss.

Stein still hasn’t managed to locate any of his students yet, and his heart stutters in fear each time he sees someone lying prone on the ground that resembles any one of them.

Most of all, burning in the forefront of his mind, is Spirit. The last he’d seen of him was when he told him to go to battle; what if Stein had sent him to his death?

“Professor!”

Stein whirls towards the sound, heart racing, and he sees Maka standing several yards away, waving her arm to get his attention. Stein is over in moments. She’s with a group of his students, and after a quick head count he sees some but not all of them there. It’s better than nothing. He’ll make rounds of the school to find all of them, and he  _ has _ to find all of them, because if any of them had died on his watch...

Then he looks down to see what they’re all crowded around, and he drops to his knees immediately as his eyes land on Spirit, propped up against a fallen trunk, looking broken and bruised but  _ breathing. _

His initial feelings of relief fade as he notices red seeping out from his shirt, but before he can take a closer look, Spirit grabs his hands weakly and Stein drags his eyes away to meet Spirit’s gaze.

“I’m okay,” he says, a pained smile making way on his face. “I’m here, you’re here; it’s okay.”

Spirit’s face drops back into worry and he asks, “Where’s Crona?”

“Crona’s safe,” Stein says, surprised at how broken his voice sounds, cracked with tears and adrenaline. “They’re okay, Medusa’s gone, and--” Stein turns to his students. “Can you regroup with Crona? They’re a little ways behind the school and to the left--it shouldn’t be too hard to find them. Go there and stay with them, keep yourselves safe, and Spirit and I will join you soon.”

His students nod, and they trail away one by one to mount their respective dragons. Stein waits until they all disappear into the night, and then turns back to Spirit, but Spirit speaks up before Stein can get another word in.

“Can I--”

“--kiss you?”

“What?”

“What?”

Spirit’s eyes are wide, and Stein absolutely does not believe those two words came out of his mouth until they’re leaning forwards and Stein presses his lips onto Spirit’s and that last piece finally falls into place in his heart. Relief, longing, lost time, and overwhelming affection pours into the kiss, Spirit’s mouth is warm and welcoming, and Stein loses track of the seconds passing them by and--

“Ow,” Spirit says, pulling back with a wince.

“Wh--are you okay?” Stein asks breathlessly, emotions running high and nearly clouding up his brain.

“Oh, I’m  _ more _ than fine,” Spirit says with a half-grin, “but this isn’t all too happy right now.” He gestures to the wound on his torso, and Stein flushes.

“Right,” he says, peeling back Spirit’s shirt to get a better look at it, trying to keep his voice and fingers steady while thoughts race around his head wondering what this means, if Spirit had just been caught up with everything else that’s been going on and didn’t really mean it, and how Stein was going to function if Spirit changed his mind, and--

Spirit places his hand over Stein’s, stopping the rush of his thoughts mid-flow.

“Whoa, take me out to dinner first,” Spirit says, and Stein laughs, and when Spirit joins in, somehow he knows everything will be okay.

 

The aftermath of the battle isn’t pretty, but everything seems bearable with Spirit by his side and Crona with his other students like they’ve always belonged there. Stein won’t dare say anything, but he’s caught glimpses of Crona and Maka holding hands under the table at breakfast or making eyes at each other during lessons. He’s happy they’ve found their place.

The regular lessons are put on hold as they take care of the school grounds and the surrounding land scorched from the battle. Dragons aid in collecting the bodies; some are buried, some are burned, and the town comes to mourn. Much of the forest had burned down, but the dragons residing the rivers and lakes of the forest had helped to stop it from spreading too far. They plant an abundance of seedlings in hopes of curating new life for the next spring.

The school was partially destroyed, but with the help of his students and many town residents, they are able to build it back up into a livable space, although scars of the battle are still prominent.

It takes a while, but each person's wounds heal as well, and they celebrate the day Spirit can walk without using Saturn for support.

A few of the brighter notes come when Kilik decides to stay with them permanently, much to the delight of Stein and Spirit and all his students. They eagerly welcome him in, taking immediately to his warm personality. They have an extra room, anyways, now that Spirit comes to sleep exclusively in Stein’s room now. They try to be subtle around the students, not wanting to disturb the status quo, but from the occasional  _ disappointed but not surprised  _ looks he gets every now and then from Maka and the knowing smiles from Kilik, he has a feeling they’re not doing so well.

When the last remnants of the battle finally fade, Stein poses a question to Crona. They think about it for a day or so, and then agree.

 

_ One year later. _

 

“...and the Destin territories are requesting a section of the land next to them so they can have better access to the water supply, and then--”

Stein puts a halt to Spirit’s harried words with a kiss, and when they pull apart, Spirit looks slightly dazed.

“What was that for?” he says, blinking a couple times.

“You’re too stressed,” Stein says, gently placing one hand on the back of Spirit’s head while the other hand teases the long slip of paper from Spirit’s grasp. “We should take a break. Land disputes can wait for a little while.”

“But I--”

“No,” Stein says firmly, and Spirit deflates. “Put this aside. You deserve a break.”

Spirit nods glumly and allows Stein to press another kiss to his forehead.

“Tell Crona their subjects are too unruly,” Spirit mumbles, and Stein simply takes his hand and they walk down the hall to the throne room.

Crona is sitting on the chair in the center of the far wall, looking as regal as they did the day they accepted Stein’s suggestion to become the new High Witch. They were, after all, in line for the throne to begin with, even if they didn’t necessarily have Medusa’s blessing.

They had done a much better job than in their first year of ruling than Medusa had in her several decade-long ruling. The land was prospering, dragon schools for everyone now dotted the country, and people were  _ happy.  _  It made Stein’s heart swell every time he saw the result of Crona’s reign.

Mia is curled up behind Crona’s throne, ears perking up at Stein and Spirit’s arrival. Crona is still focused on the people in line bringing various concerns to them. Mia nudges them and they look up, a smile breaking out on their face once they spot Stein and Spirit.

“I’m sorry that’s all the time I have today,” Crona calls out, voice ringing around the room, and they gracefully step down from their throne.

“I will be back tomorrow, please don’t hesitate to bring your news to me then,” they say amidst the grumbling of the townsfolk. Crona sweeps across the room, Mia following behind, and it isn’t until they exit the room through a side door with Stein and Spirit right behind them that they let out a breath and relax against the wall.

“Thanks for saving me,’” they say. “It’s important to address what everyone needs, but...sometimes it can be a little overwhelming.”

“Sometimes you just a need a break,” Spirit says, and Stein resists the urge to roll his eyes at the same argument Stein had used against him only minutes earlier.

Crona nods, eyes bright, and Stein feels a bubble of happiness rise in him. Ever since recovering from the battle, Crona’s entire demeanor had changed. It was like their fear and uneasiness had vanished with Medusa, allowing Crona to flourish into a content and capable being.

“So, are we going flying today or what?” Crona says, and they step further out into the hall without waiting for an answer. Stein and Spirit exchange a smile and then follow behind.

 

“I see you  _ still  _ haven’t learned how to fly quietly,” Stein calls out behind him as the trademark bickering from Kid and Blackstar reaches his ears. They’re flying over the golden fields that roll through the hills on the west end of the castle, a few pink clouds dotting the blue sky.

It’s just his opinion, but Stein thinks Blackstar and Kid have something a little more than “just friendly” going on and are arguing to cover it up; after all, no one would ever let them live it down if they caught them kissing in the castle courtyard.

“If it’s not a real lesson, you can’t tell us to be quiet,” Blackstar says, and Stein can almost hear the upturned nose he’s sure Blackstar is giving him. Laughter resounds around the group, and Stein finds himself smiling as well. 

They eventually decide on a place to land and have at the snacks they brought, and when they touch to the ground, the first thing Stein notices is a large, dark green snake making its way through the yellow stalks. Something about it seems off, but Stein’s confusion is overridden as Blackstar stompts past him, exclaiming, “Oh, cool! A snake!”

“Blackstar, wait--” Stein calls out, apprehension growing in his chest, but he’s cut off as Cyphus  leaps across the clearing in a single bound and crushes the snake under one of his paws before Blackstar can get any closer.

“You got it?” Stein asks, and Cyphus lifts his foot to look at the snake on the ground. He looks back up at Stein with something like a satisfied look, and shakes his head up and down once. Stein breathes a tiny sigh of relief, only to realize that everyone is staring at him with puzzled expressions.

“Um...I think it was a poisonous kind,” Stein says, a little flustered. He knows he definitely hasn’t convinced anyone, but they let it be anyways. 

“Why don’t we find a different clearing?” he suggests. “One without any snakes or other magical entities?” 

The students agree, and Spirit gives him a half-loving, half-exasperated look. When they’re all in the air again, golden light and a cool breeze surrounding them and their dragons, the sun laughs with them as it sets behind the hills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> linking it again: art by [the-ace-place](https://the-ace-place.tumblr.com/post/181260369811/resbang-2018-and-the-sky-turns-to-blue-here-are) and [thenoctivagant](https://thenoctivagant.tumblr.com/post/181259799363/resbang-2018-and-the-sky-turns-to-blue) that is absolutely worth checking out!
> 
> thanks for reading!


	2. Extras

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a deleted scene and some dragon-worldbuilding (??) that didn't make it into the fic. enjoy!

_ Tiny deleted scene, just before they find Kilik in town: _

“Ooh! Look at this!” Spirit says, taking a hold of Stein’s arm and dragging him off the walkway to a small stand tucked into the corner of the alleyway.

It’s definitely  _ not _ any witch that might be able to help them--dozens of firecrackers line the counter of the stand, some hanging from the poles and ceiling too--and Stein is about to say something, but he stops himself at the look on Spirit face as his gaze travels around the different crackers.

“The kids would love these,” he says, and Stein lifts an eyebrow.  _ The kids. Sure. _

“Could I have these ones, please?” Spirit asks, pointing to a few rainbow-wrapped ones near the top. The seller nods and takes them down for Spirit as Spirit slides a few coins onto the counter. He gathers up the crackers and then pauses, and Spirit can’t quite see what’s caught his eye.

“Sorry, could I also grab one of those?”

“Sure,” the seller says, smiling faintly. They shoot a knowing look in Stein’s direction, but Stein only feels baffled.

“Have a nice day!” they call after Spirit places another coin in front of them. He turns back towards Stein with an armful of firecrackers--and a crown woven from brightly colored flowers dangling from his fingertips.

“For you,” Spirit says, and before Stein has a chance to protest, Spirit shakes the firecrackers onto one arm and lifts the other up to place the crown gently on Stein’s head.

Spirit’s eyes light up when the crown is properly settled on his head, and something in Stein’s chest blooms at the sight. He’s too enraptured by the blue of Spirit’s eyes to try and dissect it, and then Spirit is looking away and the moment evaporates into the afternoon air.

 

 

_ Characters' dragons names and types: _

Stein - Cyphus (Caelum)

Spirit - Saturn (Caverna)

Crona - Mia (Caelum)

Maka - Dae (Amnis)

Soul - Cian (Laminae)

Blackstar - Ixiu (Amnis)

Tsubaki - Rosune (Laminae)

Kid - Xavier (Noctis)

Liz - Nini (Calculi)

Patty - Pea (Calculi)

 

 

_ Types of dragons!! _

Nympharum - around a foot in length, insect-like wings, sparkling colors, can spit sparks but often don’t because they’re generally very docile in nature unless they’re woken up in the middle of a nap, like to hang around near flowers

Amnis - slender, ranges from traditional water shades to more earthy shades, very playful, four legs and two pairs of translucent wings that dry in the sun very rapidly

Lacus - thick in build, ranging between blue and green shades, very solitary, no wings but four flipper-like legs

Oceanum - very large, the deeper you go down the more gills and less eyesight they have, massive wings that are built for propelling them through the water, not flying, although they are able to fly if they should so choose

Noctis - nocturnal, big eyes to see in the dark, glossy black scales that change color in the sun, little larger than Amnis dragons

Caelum - generally lighter in color (whites, grays, pastel blues and purples), the lightest in weight of all dragons around its size, massive wings, one of the bigger dragons

Calculi - on the smaller side but still perfectly capable of carrying riders, can be any colors of stones and crystals, generally perceived as more common than other dragons but they’re the most difficult to bond with, feisty yet loyal nature

Caverna - lanky, darker colors, extra tough scales and wings to deal with all the jagged rock pieces in the caves they generally live in, kinda grumpy but care for the person they've bonded with

Laminae - generally perceived as more docile but are much more fierce than they appear, basically adopt Nympharums as their children, have a wide range of colors but fall more on the softer/pastel side, sweet looking, around the same size as Amnis dragons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe i had way too much fun coming up with the different kinds of dragons. i'm sad not very much of it got into the fic :((


End file.
